Vettel said he tried to nurse the car around the lap but it quickly became clear it would not be possible.

"In Q3 I left the pits and was in first gear to leave. I went up to second gear and lost drive in second gear, went for third and had third so I decided to keep going because it's possible to do a lap without second gear around here, but by Turn 1 I was stuck in fifth gear and couldn't go up or down and lost drive and had to stop."

After missing most of Friday practice with an electrical issue, Vettel admitted it had been a tough weekend.

"It's obviously tough because we didn't get the information or get into the rhythm because we missed yesterday. Qualifying was tricky because people generally ran out of tyres towards the end of the lap, it was a tricky one where you just need laps again. It will be a different world tomorrow."

After enduring a tricky start to his Manchester United career, perhaps it is fair that Marcos Rojo celebrated so boisterously as he watched his first professional club Estudiantes beat fierce rivals Gimnasia